Mutants: Kingdom
by KH2083
Summary: The story takes place after Decimation. It's alternate reality.
1. Chapter 1

**Mutants: Kingdom Come **

World: Marvel / X-Men

Time: after Decimation

**Prologue: Beginning of Hunt**

Young woman with long, brown hair dressed in grey coat was walking down the wet street of some big metropolis. There was a late night and the light of street lamp posts, falling on her lone figure, casted long and unusually black shadow on the pavement. The girl stopped, turned around and looked behind herself. She heard something scary a moment ago, she thought that she had been tracked, observed by somebody's invisible eyes. After a few minutes of fighting with her own thougts she grew in confidence and moved farther. She stood up in front of the night pub above which the neon light emitting unpleasant, red brilliance was hung. The fat person leaving the bar knocked the girl down and she moved away a few steps being a bit frightened. The fat person spat into the puddle and he came off disappearing in the sleeping city. Brown haired woman crossed the door of the pub. A loud music, shouts, drunken talks, stink of the mustiness and cigarettes greeted her. The woman was looking around simultaneously avoiding eyes of drunk men. She noticed the young blonde dressed in black, leather jacket. She smiled and came up to her.

"Scanner, is it you? Did you also...?" She asked.

"I'm not Scanner, simply Sarah" The blonde replied rising from the table.

"There is no sign of my gift. Taking into consideration how you look like Carmella and where you came, you lost it too, am I right?" She added looking in the eyes of her companion.

"Yes, in that case we both are in danger!" Carmella announced.

"Go with me. Spoor is waiting in the back room..." Sarah said.

"Did he also?"

"Yes and no. You'll see". Two girls went to the back of the restaurant and immediately closed the door behind themselves. Some shape in the darkness loomed into the view. The bearded man covered with brown hair all over the body was sitting in the corner of the room.

"Spoor? I can see that you still are the mutant..." Carmella announced.

"I'm not, Unscione" Spoor shouted getting up off the floor.

"I cannot influence emotions of others! Only this repulsive exterior was left! But actually we're here for other reasons". The former mutant said.

"Exactly. Somebody is hunting mutants devoid of the power, he is kidnapping them." Sarah said. "Katu and Vindaloo disappeared." She added.

"Kleinstocks also." Unscione said.

"That's sapiens fault! The ordinary men and their government! They deprived us of the power and now when we're defenseless they want to catch us all and close in camps. I propose that we go to the White House and kill as many of them as we will manage! Let them see that we don't fade away quietly!" Spoor screamed.

"It's ok for me." Carmella said smiling ominously.

"We don't know why we lost our abilities." Scanner tried to cushion the situation. The bar started filling up with a pink fog. It thickened and formed into the shape of the human silhouette. Amelia Voght – woman with red, straight hair dressed in the uniform of Magneto's Acolytes appeared. "Voght!" Sarah was glad.

"You didn't lose the powers!" Spoor was surprised.

"Next injustice of the life!" Unscione added.

"Listen. We must find shelter as soon as possible. Xavier's Institute should accept you if you ask for the asylum." Amelia started the conversation.

"We're supposed to hide in the traitor's lair!" Carmella was filled with indignation.

"We'd better die in the fight!" The bearded man added. The door of the backroom opened with a thud. The man dressed in black dress compound of leather strips covering every part of his body, including the head, entered the room.

"Amelia Voght is a threat and she isn't interesting for us." The mysterious man hiding in the shadow said. The man in leather strips spread his hands.

"Nighty-night." He whispered and shot large energy discharge toward Amelia. The uncoscious women fell down on the floor.

"And you... you will go with me." The tall, pale man with shining red rhombus in the middle of the forehead came out from the shadow. Carmella, Sarah and Spoor fell down devoid of the consciousness as soon as he looked at them. The man turned to his helper.

"Destroy this place." He ordered him and teleported with three unconscious former mutants.

"Dance, flame dance!" The strangely clothed man whispered. The building of the night pub was torn apart by huge explosion. The unlucky people inside it were killed or buried under tons of smoking rubble.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

Only a heap of steaming rubble remained after the building standing in the city centre had collapsed for no apparent reason. Or at least it looked this way, because rescue workers, searching the place of the disaster in quest for victims, didn't manage to find a single living witness who could throw a light on the secret of this unusual event. Gas explosion, feud among gangs, bomb attack conducted by Islamic extremist terrorists or effects of the fight of people attired in colourful costumes were possible explanations of building's collapse which policemen, firemen, television reporters and ordinary passers-by interested with the event tried to guess. Clouds of dust rose above the rubble tousled by the wind and airflows being forced to the movement by rotating blades of landing helicopters. The smoke was colourful, arising from burning wood and synthetic materials. Clouds rushed to the meeting with the nearby streets, covering them with their stinking shroud like the morning fog rising above concrete forest. Streams of gases slowly crawled along themselves layer above layer, they sped up, mixt with each other creating whirls of boundary layer wrapping one another, taken away from the stone of streets by positive pressure's gradient. One of clouds having the pink colour seemed to live its own life, it moved oposite to the direction in which the laws of physics forced the gas to flow, it started increasing its density as well as assuming the shape of the human body. Amelia Voght materialised in dirty, dark alley far from eyes of people and cameras. In spite of the fact that the woman had been unconscious at the moment of the explosion, her superhuman abilities, without the participation of her awareness, had led to her transformation into the gas form which saved her life. Amelia was really tired, totally disorientated with everything that surrounded her from every side, she didn't remember what had happened to her the day before and she wasn't able to plan what to do next. She walked a few strides and fell down unconscious on sacks lying on the pavement filled up with rubbish.

At the same time, in the completely different place, inside the building of large shopping centre the life lasted undisturbed by the chaos around tumbled down house. People stood next to cashier's offices in long queues, they were toing and froing looking straight ahead with eyesight stupefied by the music playing from everywhere, they were throwing objects which they started needing suddenly, right after they had heard about their promotional prizes at that specific day, into carts they pushed before themselves, they gorged with unhealthy food handed out by young hostesses. Sellers smiled artificially to customers swearing in their thoughts that they had too much free time and too much money to spend and bodyguards looked at everyone like they expected that they would turn out to be assassins wearing kilogrammes of explosives under their covers. None of the people inside the building expected that that night they really had been threatened by the danger of death. Young, inconspicuous girl with fair hair tied into ponytail was walking along the corridor. Her face expressed no emotions, it showed boredom with monotonous view stretching out in front of her eyes. The girl stopped violently, somebody hit her and quickly walked away looking at her with an anger. The mysterious figure closed her eyes, a few tears flowed down her cheek.

"Your 1000 lives for every one our life..." She whispered. Her body shone with bright glitter and right after it, it exploded with rainbow of colours and the wall of fire. Ardent wave flooded corridors, shops, cash desks, all employees and customers of the shop. Their bodies consumed by flames had been burnt all the way to the very bones in the matter of a few seconds. All objects in the epicentre of the explosion became the heap of ashes and clouds of suffocating smoke.

Carmella Unuscione woke up from a long dream. She felt bad and her head ached terribly. At the beginning she could not freely think and her memory about events of a few past hours was full of contradictions and blank areas. The girl counted on her instincts taught when she had been active member of the team of mutants called Acolythes, she tried to search her most immediate environment. As it turned out, she was inside the room with wooden walls furnished by the wardrobe, table, few chairs and bed on which she was lying. She clutched her head, trying not to think about pain and to remember how she was taken to such a strange place. She remembered the meeting with Scanner, Spoor and Amelia Voght. Amelia didn't lose her abilities, it was the only thing that brown haired mutant remembered. Carmella recalled that her companions from the team had disappeared in mysterious circumstances, her own fear and decision to take action to protect herself from the same fate. She failed, she thought. But at least she learnt where other mutants had been taken. The thought about them caused that the woman gained greater self-confidence and the willingness to further actions. She had to find somebody from whom she could learn more about that place and find a remedy to get out of there. The girl very quickly found the exit door and much to her surprise she opened it without the smallest effort. Glitter of the sun and the green landscape stretching out in front of her eyes transfixed her. As it turned out, she was on a big meadow, surrounded by coniferous forests, on which few small, single-storey wooden houses stood on. She started looking all around in quest for any mutant, but everything pointed at the fact that there had been nobody living in her surroundings. She ran to the lower part of the hill toward the closest cottage, but unfortunately during the walk she felt bad again. She felt dizzy, like being struck by a wave of the heat and she staggered on legs. She reached the bench standing in front of the house. She sat down on it burying her face in hands trying to reduce symptoms of migraine which attacked her with redoubled strength.

"What the helll is happening here?" She thought. At the same moment she realised that somebody approached her. She was feeling really bad, so she even didn't turn toward this person.

"Did you come from that house? Did you wake up? So fast..." The man said to her.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Carmella..." The woman answered raising the head.

"I'm Jared Corbo. Known at one time as Radius". Brown-haired man replied sitting down beside mutant girl. Carmella was weakened, she didn't want to answer him. On the other hand, the anger and willingness to escape from that incredibly strange place in which she was imprisoned caused that she wanted to learn as much as possible about it. She rose from the bench, walked a few strides, stopped suddenly and leaned against the tree. Jared ran up to her, because he noticed that the woman had barely stood on legs. He helped her to come back to the cottage.

"Be careful, I don't know what they gave us, but it really weakened us. You must be really strong, I wasn't able to leave this house two days after they had kidnapped me here".

"Don't say more..." Carmella said clutching her head again.

"Come inside, I'll give you my room for the entire night, if you need it". The man announced smiling to brown haired mutant woman.

"I'll take a walk around surroundings, maybe some new neighbour will appear". He added and helped the girl to enter the cottage.

Amelia Voght approached gates of the Xavier's Institute. Her body was in the semisolid state, her tired psyche maintained her human figure with an effort. The woman knew that something horrible had happened to her acquaintances and probably to other mutants throughout the country and she was sure thhat Charles Xavier was the only person who could help her. Amelia phased through the school fence, then cautiously sat on the lawn. The place seemed to be strangely quiet and abandoned. Mutant thought that something had been wrong. She knew from television that the school of her former acquaintance had been revealed to public opinion and was accepting young mutants from the entire world. Perhaps after the M Day, there were nobody who would need Xavier's advice and help. Perhaps X-Men also lost their extraordinary abilities - ginger acolythe mused. Suddenly a huge shape grew above her head - large battle robot, Sentinel piloted by one of members of the O.N.E. organization stood up opposite the woman pointing his huge hand at her.

"Amelia Voght, member of the Acolythes organization, suspected of the cooperation with known terrorist Erik Lehnsherr, Magneto. Stop and don't try to move. Otherwise we will have to use force". The man said from the inside the metal colossus. Amelia was horrified, the blackest thougths started turning up at her mind. The government found a way to deprive mutants of their power and then they sent robots in order to eliminate the ones who resisted their secret weapon. Unuscione was right, Magneto was right all the time - she thought. She clenched fists thinking about the escape. At that very moment Cyclops, Emma Frost, Storm and a few pupils who didn't lose their abilities emerged from inside the school.

"Wait! We'll take care of her!" Summers shouted. Sentinel turned the large head toward the leader of mutants.

"She is well-known terrorist! She must be arrested!" The soldier inside the tin machine said.

"If she arrived here, she is seeking the refuge. We must give it to her! There was the agreement between me and Val Cooper". Scott replied.

"I don't think that you want the war with X-Men?" Emma asked looking at the robot cameras.

"We'll take care of her and escort her to the camp for 198!" Cyclops added.

"Ok. But I must report to my superiors about what happened here". The soldier announced moving his machine toward buildings.

"Thank you." Amelia said assuming solid form. She came up to X-Men members standing before the school.

"What do you want?" Ororo asked her.

"Charles! I must talk to Charles as soon as possible!" Voght replied being still horrified with everything what happened to her a few hours ago.

"Why?" Cyclops asked.

"Mutants are disappearing. Somebody is kidnapping mutants who lost their abilities. I don't know why, I must meet Charles as soon as possible!"

"I'm afraid that it's impossible". Frost stated.

"I'm not your enemy. Not now, when our situation became tragic. I really need his help".

"Charles left the school some time ago. He stayed in Genosha, where he helped mutants survive after Cassandra Nova's massacre. But after M Day ..." Ororo started the statement.

"He vanished without a trace. We aren't sure whether he still lives". Scott completed. Amelia was struck dumb and tears appeared in her eyes.

"We must suffice for you. Can you exactly tell us what happened? Who disappeared? Who is hunting mutants?" Emma asked. Storm came up to junior X-Men standing close by and she asked them to come back to the schoolhouse. Amelia tried to tell everything she knew

"Unuscione got in touch with me a few days ago. She was horrified, because she had learnt that somebody was hunting members of my group, the ones who lost their abilities after " M Day ". She was worried about her life, she didn't know how to defend herself not having her powers. She also managed to contact with other mutants - Spoor and Scanner who also lost abilities. Every four of us met in the city in order to decide what to do farther, whether hide somewhere or perhaps try to fight with the unknown opponent. Unfortunately he was faster than us, I didn't even see his face. His servant, looking as if he escaped from some sado-maso production knocked me down without the smallest difficulty. Later he entirely destroyed the café in which I met everyone, covering up his tracks. I would die also, if not for my body which subconsciously was turned into the fog when I was unconscious. Next thing I remember was when I regained consciousness in some dark street and when I built up my strength to came here. I thought that only Charles will be able to help me... but perhaps he also... was kidnapped."

"The situation indeed is grave. We must meet in the conference room, I want leaders of all groups to come there. As soon as possible". Cyclops said to women keeping him company.

"Deal with her Ororo." He added looking at Amelia.

"Am I supposed to inform Val Cooper or somebody from O. N.E.?" Storm asked.

"No". Scott coldly replied and then he headed for the building.

The most important X-Men members came to the meeting hall, everyone who commanded teams: Cyclops and Emma Frost, Storm, Alex Summers and Logan. Dr. Henry McCoy and Amelia Voght keeping him company appeared also.

"Scott, she is healthy. Her abilities probably effectively protected her from the attack by that person and the explosion."

"Thanks Henry. If we're all here I think that we can start. Emma telepathically handed over to you all information about the new threat. We don't know who the secret opponent is and why he attacked us when our rows were decimated. We don't know whether it's the coincidence or he planned act of aggression on the homo superior who aren't able to defend themselves. At the moment we must suspect everyone, therefore I didn't want Val Cooper participating in our conversation".

Logan rose from the chair hearing these words.

"It's not our fight! All of the kidnapped ones were terrorist, right? They got what they had deserved. We had to fight with these bastards many times and now somebody did what we should have done a long time ago".

"Logan is right". Alex joined the conversation.

"Perhaps the government is catching everyone who has been on their list. If we are involved in their operation we'll be in trouble. We won't be able to defend ourselves having on our own lane the biggest Sentinel models".

"I knew that I should turn directly to Charles". Amelia announced feeling anger and dislike for people keeping her company.

"We don't have any contact with Charles. Perhaps he met the same fate as Acolythes?" Ororo reacted to Amelia's statement.

"We've been trying to find Charles for a few days, with the help of Cerebra, telepathically... without the smallest effect. Kidnappings of mutants are the only trail which we have at the moment. It is worthwhile to head at the direction which it's appointing". Dr. McCoy expressed his opinion. Logan leaned against the table looking straight into the eyes hidden behind the spectacles made of ruby quartz.

"Cyke, it's your decision". Cyclops was silent eyeing Emma, then Storm and the ginger believer of the Magneto philosphy standing near the wall.

"We'll take this mission. We cannot let the death of next mutants to happen. Not now when there's so few of us, we must defend every member of our race irrespective of on which side of the barricade she or he was before the M Day".

"You're making a mistake Scott". Havok announced grooming from the room.

"Emma prepare our team. We're setting off as soon as we're ready. Amelia Voght will join us".

"Thank you". Ginger woman whispered toward the X-Men leader. In the same moment Val Cooper ran into the meeting room. Everyone assembled looked in her direction and they guessed that they would hear the information not very pleasant for them in a minute.

"Scott. Cancel your order". The woman said firmly.

"What does it mean, Val? We're in the middle of the meeting... in what way you..." Cyclops tried to communicate with the memeber of O.N.E. organization.

"The order from a few minutes ago: no mutant can leave the zone for 198. We'll use force, if anybody breaks this ban".

"Val, our agreement was completely different. X-Men won't be treated the same as the refugees from the 198 camp!" The leader of mutants was irritated very much.

"I'm not joking Scott! The situation is really grave. Don't make the enemy from me, because you aren't able to win. Not after what happened in the city".

"Is there something we don't know about?" Ororo asked.

"Yes. I will tell you why we must carry out the order of the isolation of all mutants. But..." The woman looked at the ginger mutant. Her eyesight betrayed the huge dislike which she felt towards the former member of the terrorist organization.

"Miss Voght will be moved to the camp for 198". She said firmly and at that very moment a few armed soldiers entered the room. Amelia clenched fists.

"I can teleport us out of here..." mutant suggested.

"No, Amelia, we won't be fighting with them until we learn what they mean. Go with them and don't try to do anything stupid. Please". Scott said calmly.

"Yes". - Voght replied letting soldiers move her out of the conference room. After the ginger woman left, Scott immediately came up to Val Cooper. He required explanation for her invading the room and the next ban put on the group of mutants.

"And now you must explain everything to us. And this time I won't be conned to the story, that everything what you're doing is only for our protection".

"It was our primary order. But this time it isn't the whole truth".

"What do you mean?" Frost asked.

"Yesterday somebody conducted the terrorist attack on one of New York supermarkets. 51 persons were killed, 115 injured, 29 they didn't find so far. We must assume that the attack was done by mutant suicide bomber and my superiors guessed that it could have been the revenge for the M Day. It isn't a secret, that a lot of organizations consisting of mutants and former mutants think that M Day was some experiment conducted by the American government. I got the order to take proper preventive measures..."

"But suspicions don't concern X-Men, right? XSE active in our Institute is the official police dealing with matters of mutants in the USA, my Astonishing Team was accepted by S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Scott, don't make it difficult for me. Just do what I ask you for".

The awkward silence fell in the room. None of the mutants was satisfied with the development of the situation. Creaking of the front door stopped oppressive metallic silence filled up with the monotonous sound of computer fans, Kitty Pryde appeared inside the room.

"Logan, the message from Alpha Flight came a moment ago. They ask us for the immediate help, a few of their members were kidnapped".

"Who?" Wolverine asked feeling anxiety about the life of his old companions.

"Radius, Murmur, Flex and a few others. Everyone who lost abilities in the M Day ".

"It's an action on the scale of America continent. " Beast said surprised.

"What action?" Val wanted to learn more.

"Reason for which Amelia Voght looked for the shelter in our school". Storm announced.

"Mutants belonging to her group started disappearing. Somebody powerful enough to defeat Voght with one thought is involved in kidnappings. We suppose Charles could also become his victim. We have no contact with him".

"O. N.E. didn't find him also".

"And what if the assault in the supermarket is having some connection with it?" Henry joined the conversation.

"We must trust each other and act together as partners. Only this way we'll be able to prevent more tragedies both on the side of mutants as well as people."

Scott had tried to communicate with the government agent once again. The woman prepared herself to leave.

"Okay, I'll get in touch with my superiors and I'll try to clarify the entire situation. And you do not try to do anything stupid, because I won't be able to help you then". The blonde left the room closing the door behind herself.

"What are we doing Scott?" Henry asked.

"I don't think we let them intimidate ourselves?" Katherine added.

"We cannot fight with them. Too many juveniles mutants are in the school and among them many who lost their abilities. Our situation became complicated very much, but we must plan every further step. Tomorrow, irrespective of whether we receive the permission or no, we must get out of the school and check all three matters. Ororo, your XSE will deal with the matter of the supermarket".

"Of course Scott." Deeply tanned girl said.

"Alex and Logan and the rest of their group will go to Canada to help Alpha Flight".

"Ok." Havok replied.

"My team will be searching for the professor. We must start in Genosha and it means the confrontation with Magneto. Amelia must keep us company".

"Scott, all three teams apart from the institute at the same time? Don't you think it is too dangerous? What will happned if the 198 rebel and they'll threaten agents of O.N.E.? Or the students from the school?" Beast asked. Scott turned to the big monitor on which the map of the entire world was seen.

"We must recruit the most aggressive and most powerful people form the 198. Keeping them close we'll be able to have a bigger control above them".

"Do you mean missions with these psychos? You're risking a lot Scott..." Logan announced.

"It's much better than these psychos with everyone else in one place and with the easy access to the newest military technology". Cyclops answered him.

"We're meeting in the evening". He added looking at everyone. When mutants left the room, Summers stayed with Emma Frost.

"Emma, I didn't reveal them my whole plan. I want to confer with you telepathically".

"Of course". Emma agreed cuddling up to her lover.

Dark night reigned above the mysterious hill on which the cluster of wooden houses to which Carmella Unuscione and Jared Corbo from Alpha Flight had been kidnapped was located. All buildings were darkened with the one exception - the house in which the two former mutants found shelter. The inside of the cottage was lightened up by the small lamp in which the blueish flame was dancing and the window was covered with dark curtains. Brown haired woman lay in the bed with her eyes closed, she was probably sleeping, and her new companion was sitting beside her looking at the shadow of his own silhouette cast by the lamplight. Carmella regained consciousness. A surprise seized her, when she noticed that the room, in which she was sleeping, had been plunged into the darkness. How long did she sleep? Why was some man beside her? That and other questions flowed into her mind. At the same moment she remembered about the meeting with Voght and kidnapping of her acquaintances. She sat down on the bed.

"You are... Radius? Yes?" She said looking at the man.

"Yes..." The former mutant replied. Carmella got up and immediately headed towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" Jared asked.

"Where? To find the exit from this place!"

"It's meaningless!"

"I don't intend to sit idly the same as you! I must get out from here, or at least find the rest of my group!" Radius rose from the stool, he came up to the girl and touched her shoulder.

"When you were unconscious... I searched the whole neighbourhood. The entire area doesn't have more than square kilometer. Meadow, a few wooden houses and that's everything. I tried to go in every direction and everywhere was the same: rock wall, smooth, without chances of the climbing, and on the other side the escarpment with few kilometres deep chasm. We don't have a chance of the escape from this place".

Unuscione broke free from the hug of the man. She swore something under the nose and later she tried to run out of the cottage not paying heed to Jared's words, but she was cognizant, that it wouldn't have any sense. Full of bitterness she banged her fist on the wall.

"What the fuck is happening here!" She screamed.

"Calm down. We cannot panic now. There's nobody here apart from us, but four still empty houses are standing on the meadow. It can only mean that new neighbours will join us soon. So we have a chance to see in what way they got us here and thanks to that we'll be able to think out means of escape".

"Yes escape... straight in the hand of government agents for whom taking our abilities wasn't enough". Unuscione replied.

"I was a government agent, but I didn't know that somebody made plans for the M Day". Jared said smiling.

"But I was a representative of other government, so I know nothing". He added.

"Which one?" Carmella asked sitting down on the bed.

"Canadian. I belonged to Alpha Flight... And who were you before decimation?"

"I was with Magneto".

"Were you a terrorist? In this case I should arrest you!" Radius announced joking and reminding himself again that he was in a place from which he wasn't able to escape.

"Try. I feel like hitting somebody".

"I would defeat you. But what then? Would I be supposed to lock you up in one of these houses?" He said smiling, but grew more serious very quickly.

"It's not making any difference. We must cooperate with ourselves to survive and then return to Earth".

"Return to Earth?" The girl was very surprised by the last statement of the Alpha Flight former member.

"I told you that there is no escape from this place... and as a matter of fact... see yourelf". Brown haired woman came up to the door, opened it and left the cottage. She looked above herself and she was struck dumb with a horror. Night sky full of twinkling stars, on which two silver moons reigned, was streching above her head.

Meanwhile, a lot of thousands of light years farther, in the Xavier's Institute, majority of active X-Men members were called to the conference room. The day was slowly ending and corridors of the school were shrouded with evening semi-darkness. Bobby Drake, Iceman, went toward the big door calmly knowing that he was late for the meeting. At some point he stopped noticing the person standing in front of the mirror hanging on one of walls. The figure deep in the shadow seemed to examine her own reflection, like being in the trance. Iceman went up closer and he recognised Lorna Dane in the women's silhouette, Polaris who was member of the same team as the ice mutant.

"What are you doing here, Lorna?" He asked unsteadily, but he didn't hear the reply.

"We must hurry, Scott said that the situation was very grave. As if he had to repeat it each time, especially after M Day."

"Bobby?" Lorna reacted as if somebody woke her up in the middle of the night.

"Did something happen? Are you feeling bad? " The mutant asked.

"No! I'm sorry... My thoughts were a long way from here... I didn't notice you". Green haired woman answered trying to avoid the eye contact with her friend.

"In that case let us hurry up!" Lorna lowered the head and and she followed Iceman in a silence. Mutants from all three X-Men teams gathered in the conference room. Cyclops and his Astonishing Team i.e. Emma Frost, Beast, Colossus and Shadowcat, X.S.E. under the lead of Storm composed of: Nightcrawler, Rachel Gray, Psylocke, Bishop and Sage as well as companions of Iceman and Lorna, Rogue and Havok.

In the room there were also: Canonball representing teachers and students from the institute, Wolverine belonging to all three groups at the same time and Amelia Voght. Scott seeing his friend entering through the door quickly ordered him to take a seat.

"Sage, you can start". He said to the black-haired woman keeping the laptop computer.

"Of course". Tessa replied tapping something on the keyboard.

"Sage worked the O.N.E. computer system out and now she can modify data recorded by their cameras and wire taps without any problem. At the moment she is sending the image of our meeting with the false soundtrack to their operations' room. We must mislead them and convince them that I gave the order to all of you to stay inside walls of the institute at all costs. Really, we met here for the completely different purpose. The most of you probably know, that after the M Day many new threats for mutants appeared, for the ones who still have their abilities as well as for the ones who lost them. Somebody is kidnapping victims of decimation, we're sure that it's happening on the world's scale. In Canada, Alpha Flight members became victims of kidnappers and Amelia Voght asked us for help in finding her acquaintances".

"Which were well-known terrorists". Kitty Pryde interjected.

"It isn't significant. After " M Day ", we cannot be divided into good and bad mutants. The is so few of us, therefore we opened thresholds of the institute for Marauders, Gene Nation and other who otherwise would be our deadly enemy. We must fight with the new threat together and stay together, now when the humanity has turned against us".

"I can hear Magneto talking". Logan quietly shared his observations with Gambit.

"You'll be divided in three teams: Logan and Havok's group will go to Canada to help Alpha Flight find kidnappers, Storm and her team will deal with the matter of the attack on the supermarket, we cannot leave it to the human police. My group will begin to look for Charles. Genosha will be the place in which we'll begin our search".

"I don't like it, Scott. Lying to people in this way in spite of assurances that we want to cooperate with them". Nightcrawler spoke getting up from his place.

"Unfortunately we don't have other options. They clearly convinced us what their position is. We cannot stay at home and wait until people settle our problems one way or the other".

"Scott, I don't doubt the effectiveness of Sage's ability in camouflaging real intention of this meeting or even our take-off in three blackbirds, but in what way you'll explain our physical absence in the institute?" Dr. McCoy asked.

"We won't explain. We'll be chased, but we cannot let ourselves listen to orders. After our disappearing, inhabitants of the Institute will be arrested and your role in our plan appears here, Sam. You must be strong and protect our young charges".

"Of course, Scott. I'm sure that I'll manage with Val's people and students, but 198's problem remains. What will happen if some of them get out of control? They didn't dare to make one step against us in the place, where it's possible to come across X-Man everywhere, but if you'll be missing..."

"I thought about this. I found the only sensible way out of the situation. I'm recruiting the most dangerous from the 198 to X-Men. They'll be keeping us company in missions, according to the principle hold close your friends but even more close your enemies". A rustle and voices of dissatisfaction turned up at the room. Emma very quickly hushed up all doubts and complaints with telepathic command: "quiet! Scott has not finished yet! "

"Thank you Emma". Cyclops replied and he continued.

"Mammomax and Arclight will go with Havok to Canada, Scalphunter and Sack will join Storm's team and we 'll take away with Fever Pitch. These are the most dangerous members of the 198, the rest isn't such a great threat to students and agents of the O.N.E."

"It isn't good move, Scott... we remember what happened when Sabretooth was recruited to the team". Logan announced. Psylocke looked at him angrily.

"We remember". She said clenching her fist.

"The situation is grave. We don't have a time to consider possible consequences of this decision".

"You're digging your own grave Scott". Logan completed his participation in the conversation and then he headed towards the exit. Right after it other members of X-Men rose from stools.

"We're starting our operation at dawn. Remember to appear punctually. If somebody is late, he or she will stay in the institute". Scott declared a meeting closed. Soon, the room became empty. Only Scott, Emma and Sage sitting at the table stayed inside. They had to discuss the most vital part of their plan.

"You are the most important, the possibility of winning depends on your role". The X-Men commander said looking in the direction of the mutant with green skin and big black eyes. The mutant was present in the room all the time, but Emma Frost protected him telepathically, therefore nobody else could see him. He was nervous, unsure of the reply, feeling of the betrayal which he committed towards his friends from the O.N.E group was on his mind all the time.

"I won't disappoint you and the ones who need you". Meld announced with a quiet voice getting up from the chair. Scott came up to him seeing the uncertainty of decision in the eyes of his new ally.

"What you did is right. Remember about it, when everything ends you will take your place in X-Men's rows". He informed him looking at his face through red glasses.

"I... I will do what you ask". Meld wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible.

"Ok. Emma will notify you of your task's details in the night". Sage typed something on the keyboard of her computer and she coldly informed Cyclops that the transmission from cameras and microphones were decoded and it wasn't possible to mention a word about what everyone heard a few minutes before. When Tessa and green-skined mutant left to the corridor, Emma and Cyclops were alone at last.

"Scott, I'm going to recruit the group from the 198". Summers heard the telepathic voice in his thoughts.

"Are you sure that you don't need help?"

"No Scott, I know very well how to talk to people of this type. I was one of them myself at one time. Don't forget about it". The X-Men leader decided to leave his lover alone so that she can concentrate on the task. Emma sat down comfortably in the armchair and she closed her eyes. Her mind began its search for a few people for whom her telepathic message was directed. She travelled across awarenesses of X-Men members walking on the corridor, sleeping students of the school as well as Val Cooper's soldiers patrolling surroundings of the school. She found the 198's camp and addressees of the psychological message inside it. Emma's figure appeared in the heads of John Graycrow, Philippa Sontag, Anthony Smith, Fever Pitch and Maximus Jensen.

"Listen carefully what I have to say. You aren't able to escape or avoid my transmission because I turned motor functions of your bodies off. Because of the extraordinary times in which mutants live now you must join X-Men. I know that you take care of yourselves only and you won't accept this message with a joy, but listen what kind of offer I have for you. I know very well about your dislike for the ones who are holding you in the camp against your will. If you help X-Men, we will help you to get out from here. As a gesture of goodwill from our side, Dr. McCoy committed himself to remove transmitters which were inculcated in your bodies replacing them with fakes emitting the signal notifying that you are somewhere else. However I will put the gift in your heads thanks to which you won't betray X-Men. If you escape during the mission, you will get to know what kind of a gift it is. Are you with me or do you want to stay in the camp?"

Everyone agreed without the smallest thought. Possibility of getting out of the camp and the brush-off of transmitters making them prisoners, caused that mutants had been willing to collaborate with the old enemy.

"Good. Remember that you aren't allowed to talk about our meeting and the plan of action with each other and with other mutants from your camp. From now on you can only communicate telepathically with me". Emma finished her meeting. At the same moment all notified mutants came back to jobs they were doing a moment ago and the thought of gaining freedom filled their minds up.

The fair-haired woman was sitting on the wooden chair looking all around, at the furniture, ring binders and books lying on them and shadows cast by a floor lamp from the table. She stopped the eyesight on the flowerpot with the miniature palm and came back to the conversation a moment later. "My daughter's name is Carrie. She was a mutant, but not somebody with the great power as lasers in eyes or generation of the electromagnetic field. She was empath, she was able to sense emotions of others and transmit her own". The woman stopped to look for appropriate words in her head.

"She also had to shed her skin from time to time... like a snake..." She added.

"Four days ago she went out and she didn't come back. I don't know what could happen, but after the M Day and the chaos that appeared in Mutant Town... I'm expecting the worst..." The woman didn't hide sadness and anxiety about the life of the daughter.

"We will find your daughter. You can count on X-Factor". Jamie Madrox replied rising from the armchair.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

Even before the dawn, all X-Men were ready to the jobs, which their commander ordered them to do. Each of them knew very well what he or she was supposed to do, even criminals in the camp for 198 whom the freedom was promised for the help. Emma, assisted by three young girls called Stepford Cuckoos, got in touch telepathically with everyone from the team. Conversations could run only and exclusively by means of a telepathy so none of members of the O.N.E. organization guarding the school could guess what mutants had planned.

"All of you from three X-Men teams must go to the hangar of Blackbirds. You must go one by one and with using different routes to arouse no suspicions. In fifteen minutes, Sage will break into S.H.I.E.L.D. computer systems in order to infect them with the virus, thanks to which we'll cheat cameras installed by agents across the entire school. Amelia and Kurt wait for the signal. As soon as everyone will board the planes, you'll teleport to the camp for 198 and you'll take the ones about which we talked yesterday. Remember not to act earlier. Sam , Dani and Shan - go to halls of residence so that none of kids tries to be a hero. This also regards the ones who lost their abilities after the M Day. You must protect them from all consequences of our decision. Meld, remember that your role is the most important. Without your help we won't be able to get out of the school, don't hesitate because you irresoluteness can shatter all our plans. I thank you once again. Remember to be the best there is at what you do. All of you."

Emma finished the telepathic monologue. She looked at Scott who was keeping company all the time.

"We'll become fugitives Scott." She said.

"Not for the first time. We must do what's right."

"Don't you regret it? After many years you managed to build this place, school for mutants which isn't just camp training next generation how to fight for better tomorrow. This decision will destroy this world and replace it with the place full of fear and prejudice."

"The M day destroyed the chance of the subsequent development of our race and our life with other people. At the moment, we must remember only about us and protect remaining mutants at all costs. We'll be thinking about consequences, when we're safe."

"Scott, I'm with you. Like everyone else who I'm united with now."

Mutants emerged from their rooms and went to the hangar. Gambit and Rogue met two O.N.E. soldiers patrolling premises of the institute. Asked where they came off, they answered that they had intended to relax in the Danger Room. Danielle and Shan also underwent the short conversation with other guards strolling in the vicinity of halls of residence full of young, former and current mutants. The rest of them reached their destination without any surprises. Sage let the virus into systems installed by O.N.E. at the institute, thanks to which cameras showed empty corridors instead of X-Men dressed in uniforms going for mission. Stepford Cuckoos as well as Rachel and Emma used telepathy to erase a few last minutes from the memory of everyone who met or could see mutants. Meld was sitting inside one of large Sentinels being overwhelmed by a swirl of thoughts, he tried to calm down and carry the order given by Emma Frost out. Cyclops' Havok's and Storm's groups were inside black flying machines. White Queen united telepathically with mutants, whose role was crucial.

"Rachel, Cuckoos, help me to overcome minds of soldiers around the school right after we take off. They must forget the moment of starting blackbirds' engines. Meld, prepare to let the Sage virus into Sentinels' systems. Amelia and Kurt, teleport to the camp and take 198. You must do it in one jump, there will be no possibility of return."

Nightcrawler and Amelia teleported leaving characteristic clouds of smoke behind. At the same moment, Cyclops, Havok and Storm started engines of planes preparing for the take-off and telepaths affected the minds of agents walking around school grounds, erasing every second, after a thud of taking off planes sounded in surroundings, out from their memory.

Meld, breaking all doubts and hesitations inside his mind, connected with computer systems of his friends' large robots and infected them with the destructive virus received from black-haired technopath. Cloud of sulphur appeared behind Arclight and Scalphunter waiting in the impatience for the signal from the team.

"We're beginning." The mutant with blue skin said and not waiting for members of Marauders reaction, he teleported them to teams which they had to assist with their abilities. Amelia Voght in the form of a fog moved to 198's tent, and having seen Mammomax, Fever Pitch and Sack, returned back to the material form.

"The mission began. Prepare for the transport. The change into the gaseous form is very nasty when you're going through it for the first time, but we don't have a time for being gentle." The Woman turned her body into the cloud of the pink smoke, but this time the transformation also affected the elephant man, the flaming skeleton and the mutant with green, translucent skin with the consistency of a jelly. Everything was ready, X-Men could begin mission without obstacles. Deciding on such a radical step towards government agents, they automatically became criminals. They knew that their spectacular escape, cheating of S.H.I.E.L.D. computer systems, destroying expensive electronics inside the Sentinels latest models and messing with several minds of men and women had moved them close to methods applied by Magneto and people similar to him, but in times when extinction threatened mutants, rescuing even one member of their race was significant, regardless of the consequences. Three black machines went up above a building complex of Xavier's institute, unnoticed by eyes of cameras and sensors of large machines misled by computer virus as well as not registered by minds of people guarding school, cleaned from all memories by five women telepaths.

The plane with Scott Summers' team aboard flew towards Genosha. Emma interfaced telepathically with her pupils from the school and gave them comments how to deal with government agents. The Cuckoos report explicitly indicated, that their plan worked well and none of soldiers managed to spot the truth hidden behind a carefully forged illusion of telepathy and false data inside computers. Kitty Pryde sat close to Piotr Rasputin. The Russian noticed that the girl had been sad and very restless.

"What is going on Katia? You didn't say a word to me."

"Don't this flight resemble you something, Peter?" The girl asked.

"I don't know what you wanted to say..."

"The last time, when we flew to Genosha to talk with the professor and decide what to do with Wanda Maximoff... the weather was the same as today... and later the entire world disappeared in whiteness embracing everything..." Kitty answered closing her eyes.

"We have it behind us... Cerebro does not give any indications of Wanda or Magneto's existence. Perhaps they no longer live, or were deprived of their abilities. That reality will never arise again, don't be afraid."

"I know... but I'm wondering whether we certainly did the right thing defeating Scarlet Witch and forcing her to restore the real world. Peter, I was happy there! I had a simple life of a teacher of children so much similar to me. And when the illusion faded away, I woke up in a world in which our race is dying out and we were isolated from the rest of the world like in some damn camp. Perhaps we should have accepted what Wanda gave to us?"

"The world wasn't real. He was a whim of the ill woman and the life of each of us was there to fulfill our most secret desires, but distorted by the Scarlet Witch's magic like by the crooked mirror in the funfair, Kitty." Dr. Henry McCoy joined the conversation.

"Kitty, you were only a puppet in hands of Wanda Maximoff and her family there but in the real world you have a control over your life and the place you are in depends only on yourself. We were in worse trouble and we overcame them, we can do it again."

"Thanks Henry." The girl answered.

"Despite everything, I had hands and a human mouth there. I had a dream work and the world's recognition there. " Beast announced looking at his paws coated with blue fur.

"And my parents were alive." Shadowcat added.

"I don't know what you're chatting about, but I hope that we'll quickly reach the place! I'm fed up of sitting in such a tight hole." Fever Pitch stopped the conversation of mutants.

"When you will perform an operation doc? Because I'm starting losing patience." He added pointing his bony hand at the McCoy's face.

"You showed us nothing but an irritating chatting. Keep quiet and calm and wait until we reach the island."

"And perhaps I'll free myself? I'm sure that I'll manage to melt this can with you everyone inside it." Fever Pitch threatened.

"Try it. You'll see what surprise I prepared for you." Emma Frost spoke telepathically in the mind of the criminal. The mutant calmed down, when he noticed that the woman entirely controlled his body.

"Are you thinking about Charles?" Scott asked Amelia Voght who was looking out of the window of the plane. The woman at first didn't answer him, because her thoughts were somewhere else.

"Yes... not only about him... I'm thinking about everything what happened so far. You're talking about Wanda Maximoff, the brightness devouring the world. I don't understand it all and I don't have the foggiest idea why the majority of friends of mine lost abilities. If you know who is behind this, why won't you share it with the rest of the world? The situation in the world is bad, almost on the border of disaster. If the world knew the truth, perhaps we would avoid the unnecessary fight."

"Amelia, believe me, if the world knew the truth, it would be much worse. Nobody would trust anybody having superhuman powers. We must conceal the truth, even if it leads to misunderstandings."

"Which means that you won't share your knowledge of what actually happened with me?"

"I'll tell you about it. But not now. There is an important task before us."

_He was a leader, malicious and violent  
His fame is covered with blood  
Now he's just a number, he lost all his power  
The king has lost his face_

Magneto was sitting on a chair on the terrace of the destroyed residence, looking at ruins of the large capital city Hammer Bay, sticking out of red sand. He was unshaven and his dress and the cape were dirty from dust devils, which were more and more frequent in the dead city. The mutant woman with the eye patch came up to him. She had a leather dress and bare hands which returned to thaier natural state after months of being green tentacles.

"They're nowhere, Erik" She said, but the man didn't react to her words.

"There is no track of Charles or your children." She added. Magneto didn't answer her, so she decided to leave him.

"Kids downstairs need you now much more than ever. They're horrified and disorientated, because it's another tragedy in their life. We must get out from this cursed island, for their own sake, for the good of us also."

"Callisto..." The man answered not turning towards the woman.

"Take them farthest from this city. And remember to not turn around, when you're a long way from here. " Magneto returned to monotonous staring at the red desert of his old kingdom.

"And what are you going to do? You won't survive here, not now when..." The woman tried to impel him to the cooperation. The grey haired man looked at her with clearly noticeable hate in the eyes. The gesture of his fist suggested, that if Erik had his abilities, Callisto would be pierced by the shower of scraps of metal.

"I must not tolerate your presence! If you don't go out from here, you'll become convinced, that although I'm only an elderly man now, I 'm still able to kill a woman with my bare hands!"

Mutant, seeing burning hate of man, decided not to have a discussion with him anymore. She left the residence, heading for the square, where her younger friends waited. Hub moved close to the woman. Her face expressed the concern.

"Where is Magneto?" She asked.

"He isn't going with us. He stays here, in Hammer Bay. His decision is irreversible."

"He hasn't any chance to survive! We must take him with us!" The girl was upset with behavior of ex-president of the country in which she spent a few years of her life.

"Hub, if you care about him so much, just go to him. Convince him to come back to us. But I guarantee you, that if you do it, you will stay here also... forever." Callisto said. The saddened girl came back to her group.

"We have a problem, Callisto." Shola announced.

"Yes? It's something new..." One-eyed woman replied ironically.

"Wicked disappeared. I tried to find her at the morning, but couldn't." Freakshow informed.

"Karima, did you scan the area?" The woman turned to her cyborg friend standing besides.

"No, I won't find her now, when she is no longer a mutant."

"Listen, we don't have much time. If the girl isn't found to the evening, we're setting off without her. We cannot risk sitting in one place any longer. Magistrates, Unus' people, even Avengers, they can appear here at any time and we aren't able to fight with any of them, do you understand?"

"We can't leave her behind here! What will happen if she gets into someone's hands?"

"Wicked is an adult. She knew that we had been supposed to move out from Genosha today. If she didn't appear, it means she doesn't want to move from here and it's her private matter! We don't have time to ask her to listen to us! I lost too much time with this old fool!" Callisto hailed the boy, since she had to express all her frustration.

At the same time, Erik sensed someone's presence inside the citadel. He got up from a chair, moving in the direction of the room plunged in the total darkness. His vigilant eyes noticed the move deep inside chambers, almost unnoticeable, rhythmical, repeating itself periodically. Somebody was breathing, Magneto was sure that one person was in hiding in a shadow.

"Leave, I know that you are there." He said. The black-haired girl got out of the darkness. She looked at the man with sorrowful eyes and he noticed that her black make-up had been entirely smeared by flowing tears.

"Why aren't you with the group? They're setting off soon to escape from this cursed place! If you be late you'll stay here" Erik was worried of his young familiar. Wicked approached him.

"I'm staying here. I have nothing what I could live for." She answered refraining herself from tears with an effort.

"Wicked... your friends worry about you, you cannot drag off any longer, because when our enemies appear here, it'll be too late. Come back to them!"

"Why, aren't you coming back?" The girl asked, stopping the monologue of the mutant.

"Don't compare my situation with yours, child!" Erik clenched fists. Then he was possessed by anger again.

"I lost everything, the M Day took from me aim in my life! The nation which I served, the race, even my children and Charles! In the world after the M Day there is no room for the idea which Magneto represented! You're a teenager, don't compare me to yourself!" the man was surprised, that he had opened his heart before the girl so easily.

"I lost my parents, friends, everyone who I knew when robots attacked the Hammer Bay. I survived miraculously, but my life became a curse! Only the contact with ghosts caused that I could get up every morning but now I lost even this! The emptiness which cannot be filled up appeared in my soul!" The black-haired mutant girl spoke and tears mixed with black substance make-up flew from her eyes across her cheek.

"Therefore please... accept my decision and let me stay here... with you... please..."

Erik didn't say a word. He had no clue how to respond to the words of the girl, how to comfort her, how to help her. Wicked cuddled up to him, she started crying loudly. She rested the head on the chest of the man, she cannot stop the flood of tears. Erik remained adamant, but he didn't reject the mutant girl, he let her show her emotions as long as she needed it.

"Erik!" Magnus heard Callisto's voice. He gently turned the black-haired girl away and came back to the room with the terrace.

"Erik, couldn't you see Wicked somewhere? We cannot find her..." The one-eyed woman asked.

"She isn't here! I told you woman, don't appear here anymore!" Magneto said angrily. Callisto vacated the room, leaving the man alone with his thoughts. After a few minutes, Wicked appeared in the room. She looked at the grey haired mutant, smiling.

"Thank you." She said.

"In a few days, when the food is no more, you'll start to hate me. Therefore it'll be better for you, if you be farthest from me from the very beginning you." Erik announced.

The Havok team's plane approached the border between the USA and Canada. The mood aboard was very nervous, mainly on account of two new members of the team which were known criminals. Alex was focused on piloting the plane, therefore ignored Mammomax's chatting. The elephant man sat on the armchair nearby Arclight, trying to establish the dialogue with her. In a vain, because the woman ignored his presence. If not telepathy of Emma Frost and desire to remove the transmitter from her body, the woman would use her abilities on the giant, crushing all his bones into powder. Rogue helped Alex to pilot the plane and Gambit spent the flight in silence, looking to her and her Arclight with whom he was connected in the past. Or perhaps with the past of the original, or the earlier clone, the man could not be certain. The Marauders were cloned so many times that any information about the originals went missing in the dark chambers of Sinister's laboratories. Bobby Drake sat next to Lorna. He looked at her attentively, thinking why the girl didn't say a word since the blackbird had started. Earlier, he tried to start talking to her, joking and asking about trivial things, but seeing the lack of the reaction of green haired woman, he ceased all attempts. He didn't want to behave as Mammomax and to make even bigger idiot from himself. He decided to try again.

"Lorna, what's going on? You behave strangely..."

"Bobby, leave me alone. My head aches and I don't feel like talking." The girl answered turning towards the pane. Logan looked at her, as if he guessed what had worried her. He didn't say a word coming back to looking at the old photograph on which he was with Hudsons standing nearby some Canadian forest.

In the same time, the plane of Storm's group approached the place of its destination. Brown skinned goddess with white hair turned to her black-haired friend sitting beside.

"Sage, do you have any information from the school? Did our masquerade come to light?"

"I don't know, I had to stop the contact with systems of the institute, because otherwise O.N.E. could easily locate us and the others. We cannot come back to the school, until we explain what happened in that supermarket."

"I'm thinking about kids from the school. I'm under the impression that something terrible will happen there."

"Ororo, we must believe, that Sam and his friends will protect them." said Rachel.

"And you Rachel, cannot you contact with somebody from school?" The brown girl asked again.

"No, from the same reasons as Sage's, we must preserve telepathic radio silence. With the school as well as with teams of Scott and Alex."

"You worry about Scott, Ray, I can see." Kurt joined the conversation.

"They're flying to Magneto, am I supposed not to worry? And apart from that he's with Frost, I would prefer that he fights with Magneto." The girl replied falling into a pensive mood.

"Graycrow! How long are you going to sit idly?" Sack asked the long-haired man with the moustache sitting by him.

"What do you mean?" Scalphunter answered very unwillingly.

"Should we not think about the escape? Such a chance may not repeat itself again. Do you think that they will keep their promise and remove transmitters from our bodies? Don't be easy, Greycrow."

"I'll be doing what I have a willingness to do." The man announced.

"And now I don't feel like talking to you and looking at your transparent kisser, do you understand?" he added angrily. The gelatinous mutant went quiet coming back to looking out of the window at white clouds moving all over the sky.

"How we are supposed to search the place of the explosion, it is certainly swarming with police and journalists." Betsy asked.

"I'll try to use my contacts at police. After all, I helped them in Town Mutant before the M Day. Perhaps I will manage to learn whether they find anything regarding the case." Bishop replied.

"I don't like them with us." He added pointing at Gene Nation and Marauders members sitting close by.

" Nothing good will result from it." He said.

"Scott's decision, we have no choice. I think that he did the right thing, because the safety of our kids is the most important." Storm announced

"If they're disobedient, I'll treat them the way XSE treated criminals." Bishop looked in the direction of mutants incorporated into X-Men rows by force and his right hand sparkled with the energy gathered in his body.

Meanwhile in the completely different place, perhaps even light years from the Earth, or thousands of years from our times in one of two possible temporal directions, or perhaps close to Earth but in the dimension separated from ours by the curtain of vibrating multiversal membranes, the young woman with brown hair could not be reconciled with her imprisonment and helplessness. She climbed on a steep mountain, believing that if she reaches the top, she will be in a place from which there will be escape. She managed to climb quite high, but a moment of inattention and the tiredness caused that her leg had slipped. The girl tumbled down into the bottom pulled by the gravity of the planet. She butted against the earth very strongly, but her training caused that she had damaged no important body parts. Achy, she tried to get up from the fall. Her companion in misery came up to her.

"I told you that you can't climb this mountain. You are really stubborn!" He said.

"Am I supposed to sit as you and do nothing? No way!" Carmella replied angrily.

"You're lucky that the gravity of this world is a bit smaller than the Earth's, otherwise you would certainly break something. And I would have trouble." Jared announced sitting down beside brown haired companion.

"You don't have to hang around me! If you don't like what I'm doing, go to some of these cottages and sit there!" The girl wanted to drive the intrusive man away.

"And you will be climbing a mountain senselessly and falling from it, until you break something, yes?"

"Not your fucking business!" Carmella shouted.

"It concerns me, because we're here alone, so I should take care of you. It's the natural order of things."

"Oh no... don't even start. If it seems to you that because we're imprisoned here alone, you can sleep with me, you're making a grave mistake. Don't even try to approach me, I warn you!" The girl turned around. She looked at rock planning another trial of the climbing.

"It would be rather impossible." Radius answered. Unscione stopped.

"And why? Are you gay?"

"No, no... nothing of the kind. You know, being in the team serving the government one can have an access to classified records of people having powers and people with criminal records. You don't know how far the information dates back. I sought my past, not entirely legally... and I came across documents about you."

Carmella interested by the information came closer to Jared.

"What do you want to tell me?" She asked.

"Carmella, you are my sister." The man replied. The girl was struck dumb. She knew that Jared had been dead serious. Intuitively she sensed that there had been no shadow of the lie in what he said.

"Let us walk to the cottage. I'll tell you what I learnt about our family. About our parents and in particular about our father."

Callisto, Freakshow, Shola, Huba, Karima and Book walked through the ruins of genoshan metropolis littered with rubble and wrecks of vehicles. Freakshow was furious at the one-eyed woman for taking him with the rest of the team against his will. The boy didn't want to leave his friend Wicked behind on the graveyard covered with a red sand. He knew that the girl hadn't had any chance of independent surviving. Black-haired mutant tried to raise his spirits.

"It was her decision. Very stupid, I will agree with it, but her own. If she wants to stay here, to live in ruins or to die, she has the right to it. We won't be risking the health and live only to seek her out."

"Wicked isn't alone here. There's a Magneto here, McCoy, even Unus' people. They aren't so bad, perhaps they will take care of her." Hub also tried to calm him.

"I don't understand, why the Magneto wants to stay here. He faced the same fate as all of. We should now support one another". The fat woman in glasses said. She had more and more problems with a long walk.

- Erik lost completely everything. He is nobody, one among many numbers, he isn't a king who terrifies the whole world anymore. I don't think he gets up from such a fall." Callisto announced.

"Now he has another reason for the revenge." said Shola.

"Yes, but the revenge which has no chance for realization." The one-eyed mutant finished.

"It 's interesting what happened with Charles." Mildred thought aloud.

"We need him now more, than at any time earlier. If he isn't here, we must be reconciled that he doesn't live." Callisto announced.

"Listen... something will come near..." Karima stopped the discussion of the team feeling that they was threatened by some danger. At some point, somewhere from behind ruins of the building a huge metal net fell out. When it fell on the woman, it paralyzed her with a huge electrical discharge.

"Karima!" Hub shouted. Woman cyborg fell down to the ground. The attack effectively neutralized her. Without the arsenal of the girl, the team of the mutants deprived of the powers was completely defenseless in the face of any threat. Callisto nervously looked all around until at last she noticed Unus and members of his gang hiding between rusting wrecks and ruins.

"Damn it!" She swore.

"They have supplies! Take them!" Unus cried. His subordinates obediently and willingly carried the order out. Caiman ran up to Callisto and slapped her in the face with all his might. Mutant woman surprised by the fact that, in spite of the the M Day he was in his reptilian form, she didn't manage to react. She hit ruin of the wall, growing of a sand, and lost consciousness.

"They didn't lose their ability..." Shola said looking with a terror at the green skin of the man. Caiman smiled widely.

"I lost them... but in terms of physicality I didn't change myself. I cannot control my tail but I'm still strong enough to beat you up all." He boasted. Ginger Glamour ran up to Book and turned her over into red sand with one kick. The fat woman didn't have any chance in the clash with younger and much more athletic girl.

"We won't give up so easily!" The bald black man announced looking defiantly at Unus.

"Hub , come closer to me..." He said to the friend. The girl carried his order out.

"Are you sure that you don't want to give up? There's too many of them." She whispered to his ear.

"No... that's no use. They'll manhandle us. Look what that witch did to Mildred. We cannot give them satisfaction." The Black threw himself into the fray. He ran up to Caimana, trying to attack him with right fist. The mutant dodged, but Shola reacted in a flash avoiding the blow of the green hand. The boy guessed that Caiman hadn't been so fast like in the past, since his tail was only a paralyzed heap of muscles and bone. He forced him to a swing away violently to his side and when the mutant lost its balance by his tail, he set about to the attack. A mutant was struck by his elbow and his own mass and momentum, he turned him over to the ground. In the same time. Hub struggled with the ginger opponent. The black woman was faster and more athletic, she skillfully avoided blows of the woman. Girls hit their faces several times, so trickles of the fresh blood flowed down their noses.

"You aren't giving up?" Glamour said smiling.

"To somebody like you? Never!" Hub replied.

Girls moved at themselves again. Shola found Lighting Rod, the mutant deprived of the powers, who had to use the net and the stun gun in order to achieve the same effect as his touch before M Day, hiding in ruins, of mutant. The mutant was a pale weakling, he didn't have the smallest chance in the clash with the strong, black man.

"It's for Karima, you rubbish!" Shola said massaging the hand aching from the blow to the jaw of the man. Hub slapped Glamour's face several times. She didn't stop beating all the way to the moment when ginger girl staggered on legs. Black woman, filled with a rush of adrenaline, gave her ultimate, deciding blow.

When her opponent was defeated, the girl, tired out and achy, leaned against the dry fountain. Unfortunately she couldn't rest. The pair of her old acquaintances loomed into the view from behind a bend of the road: Hack - the thin boy in glasses and brute Purge.

"Hub... don't resist us..." Hack mumbled.

"Don't fight with us, then it won't hurt you." Purge added.

"Are you with them? After all, we were friends!" the girl shouted wiping blood from her lips.

"You have a food, you don't share it with us... I'm sorry Hub." Purge announced smiling.

"You won't get me so easily, you Judas!" The black woman shouted with an anger. She tried to resist, but she didn't have a chance in the fight against the bigger and stronger opponent, huge even after the loss of his superhuman abilities. Shola approached Unus. He looked at him defiantly, inviting him to the duel one on one. The man only laughed.

"I don't intend to fight with you. Am I untouchable, you forgot about it?"

"I'll demonstrate you how untouchable you really are!" Shola prepared to hit his opponent. Unus smiled again pointing at Purge and Hack standing in the distance. The long-haired blonde man held unconscious Hub.

"Purge, prepare to break her neck!" The former mutant shouted.

"Hub! You piece of shit, you won't dare to do it!" the black man was horrified that the friend closest to him could at any time lose her life.

" I'll dare. Unless you surrender me." Unus offered.

"Ok. I surrender." Shola announced without a moment of thought. He knew, that Hub would do for him exactly the same. Angelo hit him the strongest he was able. The boy fell down, losing all willingness for the fight.

"It aches more than earlier..." Unus was surprised looking at his hand.

"What are we doing with them?" Purge asked.

"We'll take them to the centre. McCoy wanted to experiment a little. Leave behind that woman because she's under the voltage." He said showing Karima lying in dirt and the net connected to the electricity.

"We're taking the rest with us! Caiman, Glamour and Lighting Rod, get up soon or else I will leave you on the desert!" He shouted overfilled with the self-confidence after the victory over Xavier's newest foster children.

Carmella and Jared sat inside the wooden cottage next to each other, looking at tongues of the fire dancing in the fireplace. The girl gave the pointless mountain climbing up and she didn't intend to walk the deep chasm down into the opposite site of plateau. She wouldn't get up from the a few kilometer fall, even on the planet with reduced gravity. Radius was talking about himself.

"We lived at one orphanage, but you were quickly adopted, maybe because you were a girl, or because you were the youngest, I don't know. You probably don't remember those times."

Carmella shook her head in the negation.

"Living in the orphanage was a hell, for me and for Adrian. I wouldn't like to dwell those times on too much."

"Adrian?"

"Yes, you have one more brother. We were brought up at the orphanage and then we found our way to the camp training of Department H. Nobody gave us choice, you were much luckier."

"I wouldn't call it luck. If I stayed with you, today I would wear colors of your team. Instead, the people who adopted me needed me only to pay smaller taxes. I was nothing, an object, a foundling from the shelter. My childhood and the period of the school is constant hiding in the bathroom from the stepfather and my classmates."

Jared listened carefully to the woman. He didn't want to stop her story.

"One day, a few boys invited me to the party, after the persuasion of some idiot. I went, because I was very naive then. They got me drunk and tried to rape me. They failed, because I escaped but today I cannot bear the touch of the other people. I told the stepfather about everything and he... now I have a scar on the head after his reaction... I escaped from the house hoping that I would never come back there again. And then they caught me... my would-be rapists. They wanted to take revenge for the fact that I tried to inform the police. They wanted to complete what they started on that party. And then my mutant abilities appeared - psionic armour and force field. I was finally strong, I finally stopped being defenseless! I took revenge on for injustice, I took revenge on them, on my stepfather..."

"Did you kill them?"

"No, but now they are cripples chained to beds. They will never hurt anybody again."

"Waking up of power was your salvation, Carmella."

"Yes, if not for it, I would die from hands of those monsters or I would take my own life. Powers granted the real importance to my being, they showed me, that I was somebody else, somebody better than the ones who persecuted me. I could spread my wings. A rest of the story is wandering over the States until at last Acolythes found me." The girl finished the monologue.

"If we were together, all of that wouldn't happen..." Jared replied being lost in thought.

"And how a mutant influenced you?"

"My abilities were force field which passes through exclusively an air and water only. When it appeared, I felt stronger, safer. I could finally fight with bigger than me. But soon it turned out that it had been a curse. Field was not permeating for everything. I had to eat through the specially constructed device. I didn't feel no touch on the skin... perhaps it's good that I lost my abilities."

"You said that you had searched the data concerning our family. Did you find something more?"

"Yes, I learnt that I and Adrian had had different fathers and the same mother. I learnt about your existance and about the fact that we had common father. I learnt whom our father was. Angelo Unscione, Unus the Untouchable."

"Ah, it explains our powers. But wait... are you saying that his surname is Unscione?"

"Yes."

"My adoptive parents were also called Unuscione... namely they were related to my biological father... this bastard had to know how they treated me and didn't react! I'm pleased now that I've never met him!"

"Or perhaps he simply got you out of the orphanage so that you didn't fall into Department H's hands..."

"Unimportant. I have now another reason to get out from here. To find Unus and beat him up, like everyone who hurt me before."

"Perhaps I'll help you with it!" Jared replied. The conversation of siblings was stopped by the flash of the bright light behind the window of the cottage.

"What's this?" Carmella asked.

"Exactly the same appeared, when they brought you here! They brought somebody!" Radius replied. They left the cottage and dashed off towards the house by which the lighting appeared. They ran up too late, anybody who arrived with the new victim of the decimation, teleported a long time ago in the direction well-known to only himself. Carmella came into the interior of the cottage noticing the girl lying on the floor. It turned out that she had been an Asian with short, black hair, dressed in the yellow jacket.

X-Men's Blackbird landed on the Hammer Bay's square. X-Men were ready to meet Magneto and start to seek Xavier as well as Erik's missing children. Their plans were foiled by Karima Shapandar lying in the sand. The woman was immobilized by the electric net. Scott ordered Hank and Kitty to take care of her as soon as he saw the girl. He intended to face Magneto miself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

Scott Summers was walking along the ruins of Hammer Bay's town center, named Magda Square after Erik Lehnsherr's dead wife. At the same time, his team was helping injured Karima Shependar, found right after landing on the destroyed island. Only Amelia Voght, who was a guarantee of the easy-going conversation with the former master of the state of mutants, accompanied Cyclops. Finding Xavier, as well as Magneto's children responsible for the change of the reality and later deprivation of superhuman abilities of hundreds of thousands of mutants, was the X-Men's task. Scott guessed that Erik could protect Wanda and Pietro and he knew that if the man still had magnetic powers, he didn't have the smallest chances in the clash with him. The ginger woman had been a member of the team respecting Magneto's ideology at one time, therefore her presence could temper the first contact with the Genosha's master. Cyclops was surprised by the vast emptiness surrounding him, because he knew very well that a few groups of mutants lived on the island along with Xavier and the Magneto, trying to salvage everything what remained from the destroyed civilization. At one point, he got the telepathic call from Emma Frost.

"Scott, he is in this big building with the terrace. I have a bad news, Karima was attacked. Henry and Katherine are trying to help her, but we don't have an equipment to examine her odd physiology."

"Thanks Emma, have you seen somebody more?"

"No. The desolation is all around us. Fever Pitch is observing the area from above. Piotr is checking nearby rubble heaps."

"Don't split up! You must be ready for every possibility." Scott answered telepathically.

"What happened?" Amelia asked seeing Scott revealing by his behavior that his thoughts glided somewhere in the distance.

"It was Emma. Erik is in this building." He pointed at the residence with the terrace.

" We must be careful, because Karima was attacked."

"Do you think that it was Erik?"

"I don't know, we must be prepared for everything."

Cyclops and Voght entered the extensive terrace and went up the stairs into the interior of the residence where Magneto was hiding. The man was sitting by a big, wooden desk. He noticed mutants coming near to him, but he didn't react to their appearance. He was sitting motionless fixing his eyes on the wall cut through by propagating cracks. When Scott approached closely enough that the shadow of the wall covered his face, Erik looked at him and smiled.

"The visor on eyes. It means that my daughter spared you." He said. After a moment, he got up from the chair.

"I can see that there is my old friend with you." He added looking at Amelia.

"You change sides, but now it doesn't have the smallest significance. The fight ended. My children did it."

"You look horribly." Voght commented on the unshaven face of the man and his torn up cape.

"The same as the land, whose I am the master." Erik replied pointing at windows behind which one could see ruins of Hammer Bay.

"Scott, will you join me to raise a toast to dream that died?" He asked showing a bottle of wine lying on the table.

"Erik, I have no time for chat. After the Decimation, the situation of mutants is worse than ever before. The time has come to forget about all differences and combine forces to save what is left."

"Scott, my help will be of no use to you. I'm only an old man, tired out man who lost a purpose. Wanda took everything from me. I'm surprised that you still must carry the visor on eyes. Have Really Scarlett Witch's curse affected only us living in Genosha?"

"No Erik. Mutants worldwide lost their abilities. Wanda's spells affected also the school. There are about 198 active mutants in the world."

Erik sat down on the chair. He fell into a pensive mood and then continued.

"All these years I believed that we were something exceptional. I believed that we would inherit the Earth and I did a everything for my vision to come true. All my sacrifices and blood poured in the defense of my race... everything was nothing. I prophesied fall of the mankind but it is us who are an extinct race, it is us who are a blind alley of the evolution..."

"Erik, mutants who lost their abilities on the M day are disappearing in mysterious circumstances. Somebody is hunting for them, we don't know why." Amelia cut in on a conversation. She was made impatient with conversation of men.

"I'm not surprised. People are having a revenge on us, when we are helpless. Do you remember when I taught you that this will happen in the future, if we don't become operative and force their obedience?" Magneto replied smiling.

"And you Amelia, were you also stripped of your abilities?" He asked.

"No, I still have my powers. But the rest of Acolytes... Sarah, Carmella, Spoor... they lost them. And they were kidnapped before my very eyes. I was completely helpless, I could not help them. My powers saved my life. Now we want to find Xavier. We don't know if he is a mutant, because we aren't able to detect him by Cerebra. Charles lived here right before the M Day, right?"

"Erik, will you tell us where Charles is?" Scott asked firmly.

"Scott, I have no clue where he is. When the world became white and I woke up stripped of mine gift, he wasn't by me. My children were not here also. Perhaps Wanda wanted to give me the greatest pain erasing Charles out from the reality and later also herself and her brother? Perhaps they no longer exist. I'm sure that my daughter would be able to something like that."

"If you are hiding something, I have the X-Men group with myself... we can search the entire island." Scott looked at the grey haired mutant with stern eyesight.

"What would be my purpose of hiding Charles? I don't have the helmet on, can see you? Bring Miss Frost here and make sure that I have no secrets from you."

"All right. Will you help us with our search?"

"No. I will stay on the island which will become my grave the way it became the grave of Xavier's dreams. Take Callisto and the rest with you. Even if they don't have their abilities, it will certainly be easier for them to start new live in America than in this hell."

"Rest of them?" Amelia was surprised.

"We found only injured Karima. We met nobody else." Cyclops said. Magneto got up from the chair. He came up to the fence of the terrace and started looking all around as if he wanted to spy somebody or something in extensive deserts of red sand and rubble from demolished buildings.

"Perhaps your mysterious kidnapper appeared even here." Erik announced looking in the direction of the huge sculpture of him, built by Polaris, his younger daughter, a few months before.

"I'm coming back to the team. Perhaps they managed to learn something more." Cyclops set off to the exit.

"Are you going with us?" He asked, but not waiting for the answer, he left the building. Amelia stayed with her old teacher.

"Won't we help them?" She asked.

"Did you join the X-Men?" Erik asked changing the subject and completely ignoring her question.

"I was wounded and horrified. Charles Xavier was the first person about whom I thought. Unfortunately I didn't find him, but Scott offered me his help."

"Cyclops is right in one thing. We can't repair what my daughter destroyed, but there cannot be divisions between us anymore. We must be together and not let people hit us in the moment our greatest weakness. When all of this ends, join the X-Men Amelia. You will be there safe."

"Will you come back with us?"

"No. I don't fit in the new reality. My role in the world dreamt by Wanda would have no meaning. How can you stand up for laws of the race which practically doesn't exist? I will help you find missing mutants from Genosha, but right after this our roads will diverge. Forever."

"I'll move us there in the gas form. It'll be the quickest way." The ginger woman suggested. She didn't want to continue the conversation, because the sad tone of the speech of the man, who once had been able to stop asteroids in a flight, caused that sensation of the approaching disaster, which she had from the moment of the contact with the mysterious kidnapper of former mutants, returned. She used her abilities on herself as well as on Erik and teleported in the form of the cloud of pink colored gas.

Cyclops came back to his X-Men. Beast and Kitty were helping injured Karima, treating her biomechanical body and Emma stood close by trying to reach telepathically into her mind and to restore her consciousness in a painless way and not causing any permanent damage to her mental state. Fever Pitch noticed approaching X-Men's leader and landed on the piling up rubble.

"Fever Pitch, did you notice something unusual?" Scott asked.

"I don't belong to your gang of scouts! I don't have to obey your orders." the burning skeleton answered. Cyclops became nervous. He wasn't in the mood for jokes or taunts.

"Answer my question or I will cut your head off with optic blast." He said angrily.

"Ok. Nobody in the distance of a few miles. Are you pleased? " Fever Pitch replied.

"Piotr, and what about you?" Scott asked approaching Colossus.

"Nothing's there, but there are many abandoned buildings here. They can have basements in which somebody can hide."

"Start the search." Scott ordered his friend and moment later he came to Beast and Kitty Pryde kneeling near unconscious Karima.

"What about her?"

"Her organism is being repaired by nano-machines in her blood stream. I cannot assess how long she will stay in such a state, Scott."

"Try to wake her up quickly. Only she can tell us something more about what happened here."

"Have you met with Magneto? Do you know where Charles is?"

"No. Magneto is a victim of the M Day, he lost his abilities. He has not a clue what happened with the professor. Charles is probably no longer a mutant or he was entirely erased from the world by Scarlett Witch."

A cloud of gas appeared and two people emerged from it, Amelia and Magneto. Henry stopped the inspection of the cyborg woman's body, then came up to his leader.

"Don't you don't think that we should arrest him Scott?" McCoy asked looking simultaneously at the grey haired man.

"It isn't our purpose here. We have much more important things to do, such as finding Charles."

"And my group of mutants." Erik said, coming up to other X-Men members.

"Karima was with a few young mutants who lost abilities. Somebody probably kidnapped them. Perhaps even it was the same person who attacked me and my former friends." Amelia cut in on the conversation.

"It could be Dark Beast, your bad alter ego Doctor McCoy. Or Unus' people. I don't know, if they kept their abilities." Magneto informed.

"Scott, why you are standing here doing nothing? This man killed hundreds of people in New York! He killed Jean, have you already forgotten?" Henry was irritated.

"Henry, you know very well what Charles said. Erik isn't responsible of what happened in New York. It was somebody else, we don't know who, but not Erik. " Scott said coming up to Beast.

"Charles is not here to can confirm your version of the events." Henry was stubborn.

"McCoy... a headless body of the monster, whom you are talking about lies in vault of my former residence. Do you want evidence? Go to underground and see for yourself. You can cut him up to small pieces and examine wounds inflicted by Wolverine and Cyclops."

Magneto was ready for the confrontation with the mutant. In spite of loss of his abilities, he didn't lose his pride and could not let somebody accuse him of something which he didn't do. A silence prevailed, but soon Shadowcat ended it.

" Karima is waking up! Come here everyone!"

"Fever Pitch! Colossus! Come back!" Scott shouted. The Russian with metallic skin approached him announcing, that he had found a few closed entries to basements.

"These are corridors leading to old bunkers from times when magistrates ruled the island. If my students were taken there it was certainly Dark Beast' doing. I knew that we shouldn't have trusted this rat." Erik said.

"I'm surprised that you let him settle in here." Henry interjected after a moment of thought.

"Every pair of hands was needed. Nobody from X-Men, apart from Charles, was interested in what had happened with this island."

"When we have been here for the last time, there were no signs of life, only a message left by you, how could we know... " Henry was provoked by Magneto.

"Calm down, better listen to what Karima has to say!" Kitty had to react swiftly to stop verbal clash of her acquaintances.

Karima was sitting on a little wall which was actually the small fragment of the fence which had survived the attack of robots on the island. She looked weakened and mentally absent, but she was feeling better with every minute and was ready for the conversation.

"These were Unus' people. They surprised us when we tried to find a way out of the island. They attacked me first, because they knew that the others could not defend themselves. I don't know what happened after I lost consciousness, but I know one thing. They live and they are somewhere nearby."

"Where? Can you determine more precisely?" Scott asked.

"No... my sensors aren't working properly."

"Emma?" Scott turned to the blonde.

"I can't catch any thoughts. But I have something more interesting. Inspecting all underground bunkers I came across something very interesting. One of them is protected from telepathy."

"We know where to search for them." Amelia butted in.

"Let us not wait longer." Kitty added.

"Who will stay with Karima?" Scott asked. The dark-skinned woman got up from the wall.

"I'm also going. I'm responsible for them and I must rectify my mistake."

"Are you able to fight? A moment ago you were in a really poor condition."

" In a few minutes I will be in the full combat readiness. Don't worry Cyclops."

"Well. Prepare, we're going to basements in a minute!"

At the same time in underground bunkers, Dark Beast prepared his experiments. He was looking at the screen of the only working computer on which patterns representing some organic substances were rotating. Medical instrumentation, which surrounded him, looked like it was taken from a few completely different places. Fragments of strange devices seemed to be not suited for each other, as if every apparatus was sewn up from many different machinery taken straight from some electronic scrap yard. Cables hanging on walls and the ceiling, chairs with belts to bind forced patients, syringes and the broken laboratory glassware lying everywhere as well as the person of the chief laboratory technician resembled the hiding place of crazy Doctor Frankenstein. Beast was wearing the torn up apron and his sleight hands wrote something on the computer and entered enumerated parameters into one of bizarre apparatuses after a minute. In the same moment, Unus entered the lab or rather the torture chamber.

"Are you ready?" The man asked. McCoy turned around violently, took the flask standing close by and threw it with all his might at the black-haired former mutant. Unus ducked and the glassware broke on the wall.

"I didn't call you, so you didn't have to come here! Go away from here!" McCoy was furious. All the experiments which he planned didn't bring him expected results. Unus quickly fled from the kingdom of the crazy scientist. Meanwhile Hub, Shola and Freakshow were locked in one of rooms of basements. They were closed inside the warehouse, which was empty apart from two boxes and tens of webs on walls and on the ceiling. All lamps, which lightened the chamber up at one time, were broken or taken out into other rooms, where they were much more needed, therefore an impenetrable darkness prevailed there. Freakshow was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall and Hub and Shola were close to each other trying to gave each other a courage for surviving this moment so difficult for them. Callisto was not there, she was taken by Unus from the cell in some unknown direction. Nobody knew what had happened with her, nobody had the courage to raise this subject. Book was lying unconscious in the corner of the room. The woman tried to stop Unus people from taking Callisto and it cost her a blow straight at the face. Young mutants lost hope for any rescue.

"I'm wondering if Magneto comes to our rescue.." Hub said. Tears in her eyes betrayed that she didn't believed in what she had said. She wanted to feel better, to give hope herself and her friends.

"If he comes, he will join us in this hole." Shola replied embracing the girl. Hub closed eyes and gently put her head on his shoulder.

"I'm wondering if it happened to Wicked also. Has she met the same fate as Callisto..." the blonde man sitting on the other of the cell side joined to the conversation.

"How can we know what happened to Callisto? Perhaps they will bring her back right away... perhaps she escaped and she will rescue us soon... didn't you think about it? Perhaps she will appear here with Wicked?" Shola tried to support his friends. He was oldest of the entire threesome and felt obliged to perform the role for the leader, when Callisto was absent. At some point he felt that the brown skinned girl sitting by him was sobbing and shaking.

"Hub..." he wanted to say something, but he refrained himself.

"I cannot believe it... I cannot believe in what Hack and Purge did!" The girl wasn't able to contain her emotions inside herself.

" I've known them since childhood... we spent so much time with each other but they..."

"When people are struggling for survival, they are sometimes forced to do terrible things..." The boy tried to calm his friend.

"If we're supposed to survive this fight we should stick together! We should help each other and not fight with each other! I don't understand why they betrayed me and I will never understand it!"

"Now you know at least who is your real friend and who's not."

Hub started to cry again and cuddled up to the shoulder of her friend. Freakshow didn't say a word. He was thinking about Wicked, he was wondering if she had betrayed him the same as Purge and Hack had betrayed his black friend. Meanwhile, Unus' group gathered around unconscious Callisto tied to the pole and beaten up. Lighting Rod and Caiman watched with contentment the blood dripping from her broken nose and cut lip. Their joy was stopped by Glamour's appearance. The ginger woman was horrified, as if saw the ghost a minute before.

" They are here!" She shouted out looking at Unus.

"Who? Who is here?"

"X-Men! They're right above us!" The girl said with a voice in which it was possible to hear fear.

"Bloody hell! They're going to McCoy! Be sure that this witch doesn't escape!" He ordered looking at tied mutant woman. Unus turned up at the Dark Beast's laboratory. McCoy wasn't ready to see him again and he didn't hide displeasure at his appearance. This time, in a total silence, he took the scalpel from the table and after a moment he threw it at Unus. The man managed to duck literally at the last moment. The sharp surgical instrument was stuck in a hard door.

"McCoy! You psycho! X-Men are outside! They're searching for us!"

Beast could not believe words of the friend, therefore he came up to the computer and saw a view from cameras tracking the area in immediate surroundings of basement's entries. He became convinced that Unus had told the truth.

"It's bad. They cannot disturb me now. Bring Callisto here. Prepare the rest. I have a small surprise for the X-Men." He announced disappearing in the smaller room right behind the main laboratory. At that very moment, one of buildings on the surface shook and soon steel behemoths started surfacing from its inside. In front of the eyes of Scott's team, large battle machines appeared, Sentinels. They weren't models of robots that mutants had fought in the past but rather copies done in garage conditions, in a hurry and from parts which were thrown away from large factories of robots. Huge machines slowly came near to mutants turning all their sensors in their direction.

"What's these devilishness? " Fever Pitch asked. Cyclops smiled.

"They are Sentinels. You just became a full time X-Men member." He added after a moment.

Meanwhile, the second group of mutants was at the airport belonging to Department H, Canadian organization financing the group of superheroes well-known as Alpha Flight. Havok, Polaris, Iceman, Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine as well as recently additions: Mammomax and Arclight were walking along the runway, guarded by a few armed, uniformed men. Logan's good friends from old times, James and Heather Hudsons and Michael Twoyoungmen known better under a pseudonym Shaman, met them.

"Logan, Thank you for deciding to help us." The black-haired man announced greeting with the mutant.

"You could not choose worse times. We're decimated after the M Day, somebody blew a supermarket in the States blaming some mutant and we had to escape out of the Institute surrounded by the army and large battle machines. We're probably on the top place on the wanted terrorists list." Logan replied.

" Therefore we're even more grateful that you're helping us and you brought the team with yourself."

"Former mutants are also disappearing in the States, I'm not doing it for you, but to be closer to the solution to this puzzle."

"I know your acquaintances, but I can see new faces amongst you." Native American looked at large elephant man and woman unknown to him.

"The new recruits. Don't ask more." Wolverine finished the conversation, simultaneously cutting all speculations of his friend.

"Let us go inside." Heather said inviting everyone. Havok approached the Alpha Flight's leader.

"Did they kidnap many people from your team ?" He asked.

"Almost everyone who lost abilities after the M Day. Radius, Flex, Murmur as well as Stitch disappeared. Ghost Girl is in one of our bunkers, guarded 24 hours a day. What's interesting, Pathway disappeared also, although she didn't lose her ability. Just as her sister. And what about you?"

"Nobody dared to attack the X-Men directly. But we know that many of our old enemies were kidnapped." Alex replied.

"And probably professor also." Rogue cut in on the conversation.

"Was Xavier kidnapped? Did he lose his abilities" James was surprised.

"We don't know. He has disappeared after the M Day and we aren't able to locate him. Scott and his team flew to Genosha to start the search." Logan answered his question.

"And he isn't being registered by Cerebra, this can mean that he isn't a mutant anymore."

"The situation is grave..." James said looking at clouds moving all over the sky.

"What triggered the M Day? My magic suggests me, that it was something very powerful, something which can't be reversed." Michael asked.

"We cannot tell you. Not now, when the situation in the world is so terribly serious." Logan replied.

"Do you know?"

"Yes, but as you said, it won't be possible to reverse the effect. We can only struggle against the consequences."

The entire squad went inside one of buildings belonging in to Department H. They could see clean corridors lighted with the bright light coming from fluorescent lamps hanging on the ceiling and tens of people dressed in suits, laboratory coats and military uniforms. Arclight looked all around gazing at armed men. She smiled. Mammomax looked at her mysteriously.

"You think about the same thing as me? Can we smash everything? If you try, even Polaris and Havok won't be able to stop you."

"And what would be the purpose of this, you idiot? It would be no benefit from this! The army men reminds me of the past. I... or mine copy or the original one served in the army... memories from that time are the most vivid. Everything else becomes blurred with every next iteration of my body and the mind." The woman fell into a pensive mood. Mammomax, dissatisfied with the fact that Philippa called him an idiot, passed on the other side of the corridor almost trampling some grey haired woman in a laboratory coat. Lorna was still quiet and stayed apart from the rest of the group. Gambit tried to talk with her.

"What's going on? You try to avoid all of us." He asked.

"Nothing. I already said that I was feeling bad and my head ached. These bloody lamps are making it even worse. I would like all of this to end as soon as possible."

"Maybe you should stay in the institute. Maybe you aren't able to be involved in a mission."

"I am the member of this team, same as you and all the others!" Lorna became nervous.

"Leave me alone, please. Perhaps after the meeting I'll feel better, then we'll talk." The woman finished the conversation coming back to her tacit walk through the firmly lighted, unpleasant to her corridor. Soon the squad came inside the big conference room. The room was much darker than the rest of the base and a large screen presenting the map of Canada and the United States was its main equipment. X-Men met old acquaintances there, Puck, Walter Langkowski and Snowbird as well as a few new members of the team with which they haven't a chance to meet, Zuzha Yu and Major Mapleleaf. Puck said hello to Logan simultaneously introducing the girl with blue hair as his daughter.

" Fortunately she isn't like her father." Wolverine said looking at the very short man.

"And where is yours daughter? Everyone's says that she is as wild as her father." Eugene replied.

"Laura isn't my daughter. It is far more complicated."

"But she protected you as some wild animal. Or maybe nothing really happened in your danger room?"

"Who do you know it from..." Logan asked rhetorically falling into a pensive mood.

"I will have to hush Northstar up..." He added after a moment.

"Let us start talk about the more pressing matters." Heather said. When all Alpha Flight members and X-Men took the places on chairs standing everywhere in the dark room, Guardian set about discussing problems which met Canadian superheroes.

"The entire world was touched by the secret plague depriving mutants of abilities. We could not avoid its effects. Our best, the most promising agents were brutally deprived of their powers." Murmur, Flex, Ghost Girl, Radius as well as Stitch images turned up on-screen at the same time. After a moment, an inscription "Kidnapped" appeared on faces of all of them, except Ghost Girl. Hudson continued the speech.

"Our people were kidnapped. We don't know by whom and to what purpose, they simply disappeared as if somebody blotted them out from the existence. Each of Alpha Flight members has a transmitter under the skin which was operative even after our recruits became the ordinary men and women. Now we can't register signals from Radius, Stitch, Flex and Murmur. Their signals came off suddenly and unexpectedly, within a dozen hours, literally one after the other."

"Is it possible, that they are dead?" Gambit asked.

"No. Their death would also be recorded on our computers. But the signal simply disappeared."

"Perhaps they got rid of these bedbugs themselves." Arclight cut in on a conversation.

"We also took this into the consideration. The stress after loss of the mutant powers certainly did its share. But every attempt to damage the device would be detected by us. We detected nothing, completely nothing. What's more Pathway and her sister also disappeared. The fact that they didn't lose powers is the strangest."

At the same moment, a signal of an alarm sounded. Behind the back of Hudson, the map of Canada and a marked red point with the great exclamation mark appeared on the hanging monitor. After a moment a face of some grey haired man in uniform appeared on-screen.

"Alpha Flight must immediately report in the hangar. An Omega threat appeared, I repeat, an Omega threat appeared!" The frightened man said.

"What does it mean?" Logan asked getting up from the chair.

"Trouble, huge trouble..." Heather said.

"A very dangerous mutant appeared in Alaska. He is moving to the Canadian border. All attempts to stop the mutant turned out to be fruitless. I repeat, all current attempts to stop the mutant turned out to be fruitless... The mutant leaves the trail of destruction behind himself, the body count is rising..." Three persons which faces appeared on-screen were talking at the same time.

"If he's the mutant, it is also our matter. X-Men will help your team to stop the mutant." Havok announced looking at all members of his group.

"You also!" He added looking at Arclight and Mammomax standing in the out-of-the-way place.

"Sure, I feel like punching somebody." The man with the appearance of the elephant replied.

"Thank you. We will need every pair of hands." James said smiling. He turned to heroes from Alpha Flight.

"We have no time to gather the rest of the group. We're rushing out immediately. I was just notified over radio that the last barricade of American police had been completely destroyed by the mutant. Nobody survived."

"How many?" Logan asked.

"About 35 people, perhaps far more." Guardian informed.

"We must stop him at all costs. And remember, we cannot afford being delicate. He cannot reach a major city, or else we'll have a massacre on the world scale."

"I understand very well what you mean." Gambit said simultaneously looking at the direction of two criminals. Alpha Flight and the team of mutants left a room. Remy turned to Phillipa.

"If one of us will be in danger, you can act as if you didn't have any restrictions. You have a completely free hand in the clash with this shit."

"I wasn't going to be delicate. Refraining myself from acting against you tires me more and more." The woman replied.

"You have a chance to use your hate in the right way." Remy announced walking outside through the slightly opened door.

Dark Beast tied Callisto to the bed using thick, black belts and gagged her mouth. He looked at her face smiling.

"My people prepared you very well for experiment, but we can't take adequate safety means. Nobody knows how my therapy will work on you. I must expect the worst. What I'm going to do to you can turn out to be salvation for everyone of us. Perhaps you will be the first person in whom I will reverse the effects of the M Day. You should be grateful!" McCoy approached bizarre apparatus and, after a moment, he took the syringe with some green substance out of it.

"My formula isn't excellent. I had no time for completion. You can fall ill, even die in terrible torments, but you know who will be guilty? Your acquaintances, the X-Men! Because their appearance stopped my calculations, because of their intervention I had to go to practical tests. I know that my Sentinels won't stop them. They are rustheaps which I didn't also have time to do some work on! But I will be able to use the extra time to finish me tests, at first on you and later on your young friends!"

Meanwhile outside, the X-Men struggled with lethal battle machines. Cyclops was shotting at legs of the spidery robot and Colossus hit huge legs of huge humanoid Sentinels which was pointing it hand towards Emma and other mutants. Fever Pitch rose up into the air attacking two steel monsters with streams of the red flame. Karima also joined the fight, although her systems still didn't return to the hundred per cent efficiency. Kitty assumed the immaterial form and then ran towards the robot with which Piotr fought. Phasing through electromechanical devices of its leg she caused that the machine had wobbled and then was knocked by the strength of Rasputin. Scott turned to Amelia.

"Amelia, take Hank and try to get inside. I could see ventilation gratings, in the gas form you should go inside easily."

" Scott, and what about you?"

"We will be ok. It 's probably the worst junk robots which we've met." The man replied. Ginger came up to Beast.

"Doctor McCoy..."

"Okay, we are going there. I hope that your teleportation is more pleasant than Kurt jumps."

"My gas is odorless." Amelia said laughing.

Erik looked at the group of mutants fighting fiercely with mechanical opponents. He was furious and clenched his fists.

"Until recently I would still finish this farce with one thought. And now... whom I became..." He talked to himself.

Beast and Voght turned into the cloud of white gas got inside the underground bunker. It turned out that the ventilation had led straight to the laboratory of the evil version of Beast from parallel reality. Amelia and her shaggy passenger quickly materialized. Dark Beast smiled seeing his counterpart from world 616.

"Ah, it's wonderful that somebody who is able to understand the importance of my work will be a witness of my success. " He said moving the syringe close to the dazed Callisto's neck.

"What are you doing!" Henry shouted gearing up for the attack.

"Wait! I'm sure that you don't want to interrupt me now!"

"Don't be so certain! You kidnapped people, you hurt one of my friends. You sent Sentinels after my team. You won't escape the responsibility."

"I will perform the first trial of a substance on which I worked many weeks. You can attack me as some barbarian and we will be bite and scrape each other as large cats or perhaps and your friend will join us. But it isn't the only solution! I propose to sit down comfortably and observe how my genius is reversing the effects of M Day!" Dark McCoy said being convinced that Beast will not be able to stop his moment of the triumph.

Meanwhile in the vacated residence of the Master of the Magnetism, a lonely person was a witness of the fight proceeding in the distance, in the destroyed city. Wicked stood on the balcony observing flashes of Cyclops' optic rays and streams of the fire generated by unusual Fever Pitch physiology, she was listening closely to sounds of blows of organic steel against rusty metal and the sound of energy discharges created by the cyborg woman. The girl had Magneto's helmet on her head which protected her from telepathic detection by Emma Frost. It was a gift from the former master of the island handed over to her. She wanted the fight to finally end, irrespective with which side winning. She wanted intruders to finally leave her homeland so that she can be alone with her thoughts and ghosts of everyone who died again. She knew that it had been impossible and every thought about the fact that she was going to have the utter silence in the head to the end of her days caused that suicidal thoughts had overcome her. In spite of the lack of any superhuman abilities, the girl intuitively sensed that soon something unusual had been supposed to happen.


End file.
